Windy or binding foods?

[Buntybear]

Hi,

We are having problems with NWs at the moment and they seem to be related to his stomach. He gets very gurgly and windy. He is already intolerant/allergic to dairy/wheat/soy and I am wondering if there is anything else that could be troubling him.

I know there is a FAQ about laxative foods but does anyone have a list of foods that could make him go the other way?? eg I am wondering if sweet potato is a problem for him but we are so limited already 

Thanks

[~inbalance~]

Do you keep a log?  Keeping track of what he's eating might help narrow down the problem food.  Is he having trouble with bowel movements as well?  A few of the more common constipating foods I can think of are bananas and rice cereal.  Toast is an issue too but I'm assuming since he's wheat intolerant he is not eating any.  Not sure about sweet potato, but the simplest thing to do would be to stop giving it for awhile and see if there is improvement, then try reintroducing it and looking for signs that it's a problem.  As far as windy foods, a few I can think of are brocoli, garlic, onions, cabbage, cauliflower too I think.  What does he eat at the moment, maybe we can see something that stands out.

[Buntybear]

Hi,

No I haven't started to keep a log yet. I will start today.

His diet is like this;

Breakfast - 4oz fruit puree (apple, pear and peach or pear and dried apricot) sometimes with a tsp of baby rice mixed in to thicken, 1 slice of GF bread with DF marg
Lunch - Protein based. 4oz Chicken, beef or lentils pureed with veg
Dinner - 4oz veg puree (I try to steer clear of sw/pot here so normally white pot based)

Snacks - rice based snacks, peach or avacado slices

We don't have banana as DS is sick after having them. I am just not sure about the sw pot. I will eliminate for a week starting today and see what happens. Shame as most of the purees in the freezer I have made have sw pot in them!

[~inbalance~]

Sweet potato might be ok, I'm not sure.  The rice could be the problem, or I wonder if he is having a hard time digesting the beef.  I *think* beef is difficult to digest.  Apple can be a bit constipating too I think.  It's hard to narrow down!  You could try going back to only foods you know are ok, then reintroduce questionable foods one at a time and keep track to single out the problems.

[Buntybear]

It is hard to know which foods are ok without starting from scratch! Am exuding rice cereal as used too be at every breakfast. Will be hard tomeliminate that as he can't have wheat. Will start with sw pot, rice cereal and apple. Do you think the rice snacks are ok or is is all ricey things?

[*Liz*]

Apple is constipating as all the fibre is in the skin which is peeled off for babies.

[~inbalance~]

I'm not sure about rice type snacks, but TBH I would eliminate them as well for a short period of time and then reintroduce them and see how it goes.  That would be the most straightforward way, otherwise if things don't improve you'll always be wondering if those little snacks were the problem.  Eliminating things from an already restricted diet is really really hard, but if you get it over with quickly then it's only a short period of time where you don't have much to offer.  Then you have a clean slate to work from, if that makes sense.  It's really a lot of detective work when it comes to figuring out troublesome foods.  Your best tools will be a log to keep your observations, and your mummy instinct. 

[Buntybear]

Thanks Martina 

What kind of foods do you think are fairly safe for him to be eating? I need a bit of a starting block!

[~inbalance~]

Do you have a small list of foods that you are fairly certain don't cause any issues?  I would start with those types of things - fruit and veg puree, and chicken for protein.  Maybe stop beef for a little bit and see if he improves.  Keep it simple for a week or so.  Pears, peaches, avocados, blueberries all seem like good ideas.  I'm trying to think of vegetables that aren't too gassy, but it's hard!    Maybe dark, leafy greens like kale or chard would be a good one to offer.  After about a week, start adding more suspicious foods one at a time every few days and keep a log to try and narrow it down.

[Edesanja]

Hi bunty bear.
DS gets really bad tummy cramps too sometimes but has had them a lot this past week. He is dairy, soy, egg intolerant too. I only just clicked that I'm giving him the generic Omeprazole that he was first prescribed for reflux (the govt changed to funding a version of Omeprazole that many have found not as effective and more windy) at the moment because I keep forgetting to pick up the prescription for losec that ran out last week. So we'll switch back to losec tomorrow when I get it, but also he's been having more pumpkin and sweet potato. He had quite a bit on Saturday and had 3 sore tummies (screaming for 10-20mins at a time) and did FIVE poos!!! Bleuch! It was awful. So I'm going to go easy on the starchy vegetables and only give him small amounts. I was considering what vegetables would actually be ok, but haven't come up with many good ideas so we're going to do avocado and some proteins. After that I don't know what we'll do either...

[*Liz*]

Here is a helpful link
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-constipation.html

[Ellie-Leo]

Definitely avoid sweet potato!

My LO was very constipated on the couple of occasions he had it as a puree when weaning, and once I asked a few friends, I realised it was relatively common.

no other experience than that I'm afraid, so good luck working out what works for you and your LO

Ellie xx

[Buntybear]

Here is a helpful link
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-constipation.html

This is a brilliant website - loads of info on different food types and how allergenic they are considered.

[Buntybear]

Jenny - let me know if you come up with any other foods you are going to try!

Ellie - thanks